Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin
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I had my second infusion yesterday. Four to go! I still have the swollen neck, which has stumped everyone. Has anyone else experienced something similar or heard do this? It's like I have a swollen ping pong ball sized bump on either side of my neck. No pain or tenderness. Weird.
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dbiann it has been amazing how fast this has gone. Not that I haven't felt like I have been run over by a truck 50% of the time. For me mentally, the time between 3 and 4 was the hardest. Honestly, I have been dragging this last three weeks. But I look forward to feeling better. Good luck and I wish you few SEs.0 -
I am one week past my first infusion and feeling much better today. Had mostly digestive se. Should I think I am past the worst for this cycle? I didn't pretreat with Clariton for the Nuelasta shot, but no pain yet, when would that start? Does the yucky mouth taste go away? What surprises are in store for me in the next couple weeks?
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Hi debiann,
For me things got much better after that first week. As far as the Neulesta shot, I didn't get one after my first tx and ended up in the hospital...then for the next tx I was fine with minimal pain from the shot until the third time when I had severe bone pain. My Oncologist prescribed only a half dose of the shot for the remaining txs...although for some reason he thought I didn't need Neulesta for my last and final chemo...I am still waiting to see if my white cells stay up.
My taste changed for only a few days afterwards, and then I got most of my taste back to normal until the next round.
I was told that (normally) the only cumulative effects would be with the fatgue and neuropathy...I found that to be true...so whatever SEs you are experiencing now, you may or may not have in the future.
I ate yogurt for digestive help everyday, and brushed and rinsed with Biotene tooth paste and mouth rinse several times each day...but the most important thing that I believe helped was that I drank lots and lots of fluids before during and after chemo. I didn't get mouth sores or digestive problems...but I may have just been lucky or had people praying for me and God figured I was too much of a wimp to handle anything more!
One of the surprising things is just how quickly it all seems to go...and once you know what your own cycle will look like, you will feel better since the not knowing/anticipation is the worst part of this.
Everforward...My neck (glands) swelled for the last two txs...but it was tender for two days...my oncologist didn't seem worried, but it sounds like yours might be something different so definitely call them and let them know.
Blessings and love~ Lisa
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Generally Neulasta pain is there pretty quickly after the injection. The complicating factor is that bone pain is also a SE of taxane chemotherapy. Because you had no pain with the first injection does not necessarily guarantee that you won't on subsequent tx.
Never - I believe your MO did not give you Neulasta at your last chemo because your counts did not need to be maintained to get another round of chemo. The purpose of Neulasta is to keep your WBC high enough to receive your chemo on time. Since it was your last that was not needed. Also, if you were symptomatic on Neulasta they probably did not want to pile on unnecessary SE.
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Thanks, Special...That does make sense, though I am a bit nervous about the white count dropping too low over this next week since it was at 5 before chemo and at the first tx it was much higher than that before and ended up bottoming out in eight days post chemo, sending me to the hospital. I am being super careful avoiding crowds and germs etc...at least we are past the cold and flu season now!
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debian, I hope the worst is over. My bad days were 5-10 with major Diarrhea. I actually had to wear diapers those days or I couldn't leave the house.at all. I had special meds that slowed it down but never really stopped. That also lingered for quite a while. But it's better now. : )
Never, what Specialk said. LOL
Much love
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I didn't take steroids.
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I had steroids throughout all six rounds..hated them..but my MO had stopped giving steroids for a time to his patients, and had one woman (whom I met) get a severe allregic skin reaction on her hands...the skin peeled right off, and was very painful for her...He said he will always give steroids from now on with this regimen.
I'm sure there are some for whom the risks of steroids out-weigh the benefit....as is with nearly all medication.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend with low or no SE's
~Blessings and love~
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I am absolutely miserable
I can't really eat, my taste buds are a little weird, but the worst part is that when I swallow food I have a horrible burning sensation in my throat that pretty much puts me off having even one more bite. I gag, it makes me feel sick. I can (kinda) eat chicken broth, cantaloupe, watermelon, vanilla milkshakes and gala apples. I tried Cheerios and mashed potatoes, no go. With the massive diarrhea I just don't see this working well for me.
My Drs switched me to compazine a few days ago, and I puked bad last night and tonight. Plus compazine has a moderate interaction with both ativan and the prescription diarrhea meds, so I have to pick and choose what to take.
I'm at day 10 past my treatment, I really thought this wasn't going to be so hard. I honestly don't know how I can possibly live off no protein for 3 months (not that it matters since anything I eat is out the other end in less than 2 hours).
Please tell me there's something else I can try that I've somehow missed, I've been in tears all day today
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Neverforsaken - thanks for your info on the steroids. My MO is concerned about reactions too but has allowed to at least cut the dose in half for this next treatment and see how that goes. I am hoping that I may be one of those people that do not need them.
Wyomama if you haven't yet call you MO and ask for something for the pain in your mouth - they have things they can give you - something called miracle mouthwash is one that is a prescription. I also saw this suggestion but haven't had to try it..
The mouth sore cocktail: Equal parts of any liquid benadryl and liquid Maalox. Only mix up what you are going to use (about 1 teaspoon of each). Swish in mouth for a minute or two like a mouthwash. Then spit out - since you have some throat pain too I might swallow a bit or at least gargle it a bit.
Also - did you use Biotine? Or the baking soda salt rinse? I also kept ice chips in my mouth the entire time I was getting the taxotere - I started about 15 minutes before and kept doing it for about 15 minutes after
The last thing that I HIGHLY recommend is ask for Mugard. It is a preventative mouth wash - I used is for the first week or so after my treatment and did not get any mouth sores and very minimal taste change - it tastes nasty. It is a prescription and expensive but your MO may have samples. I was give a sample bottle. My insurance will not cover it at all and I believe a bottle will cost me about 300 - but . the one I have here should last me through my next treatment and then I can decide if I will spend the money to get another bottle and I think I will find a way.
I did everything listed here except the cocktail cause I never had a sore so I am not sure what worked or not.
Last question - do you see any white on your tongue or throat ? If so you may have thrush and will need a prescription.
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wyo, everything linda said, plus if you are 10 days out from tx and still have diarrhea that bad, make sure you are drinking enough. I know it seems counter productive but you don't want to get dehydrated. Hopefully some others will stop by with some other tips. I am sorry you are struggling with such bad se's.
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thanks ladies
I'll call the dr today, lucky for me he happens to be the one on call this weekend.
I do drink a ton of water, probably 80 plus ounces a day, should I drink more?
I don't notice anything white on my tongue, but I'll be at the cancer center on Monday and I can have them take a look too.
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Wyo....I had some hard times on chemo too....my heart goes out to you. When it got really bad for me I would drink ensure the milk chocolate one. You can get some protein that way. It tasted very good to me. Later on I bought Moo chocolate milk. I spent a lot of time and money trying to find things I could eat. Pancakes worked for me too. Mac and cheese. Scrambled eggs. Hope you feel better soon. Hugs to you.
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I'm day 3 today from 1st tmx today. So far my worst SE is stomach pain making me think I'm going to have diarrhea, only there is nothing. It comes and goes in waves. But if that's all I have going on, I'm ok with it. But, I can also feel the steroids are keeping me upright so not sure what will happen when those wear off!
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wyo - If you have pain that is not just only in the mouth, but down the throat, you might need something more like Pepcid, Prilosec, or Nexium. The chemo drugs have an effect on all soft tissue and you have a lot of it in your digestive system. I would try to eat high protein liquids, even get some protein powder and make milkshakes with it. For anti-nausea there are other choices besides Compazine, you might benefit from Emend, Aloxi or the Sancuso patch if you are vomiting through the Compazine and Ativan. Your MO needs to get the digestive side effects under better control or you will not tolerate this as well as you otherwise could. Have you called the MO? They need to address this ASAP.
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Wyo, I had the same awful burn. My pharmacist recommended I ask my mo for a script for sucarafate, it a liquid that coats the soft tissue. He said he worked for a company that did some studies with this and it worked well for chemo patients. MO gave me a script and told me to pretreat with this next round. Hope it works!
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WYO.. I had it too the carafate will help and consider the Nexium or Protonix too
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What they all said. Do you know the signs of dehydration? Make sure you are aware. Sorry if the following is TMI!
Dry skin that isn't elastic. - pinch your hand on top near your thumb. If you pinch it and it doesn't sink right down again, you have some degree of dehydration.
Not having the urge to pee. If you normally go 3 or more times a day but you don't have to go at all that's a sign. But if you have diarrhea you will have to pay attention when you go that you are actually voiding as well as pooping!
Cramping can be there too but again with the D that's a cause of cramps.
My easiest test was the hand thing. If the pinch stays upright enough you can see the mound, you're pretty dry.
I found it hardest to get the water down when I was in the D phase. It's your bodies attempt to help you so it tells you not to take anything in. Ask your MO about Pedialyte. If he OKs it, drink it cold. Don't be surprised If you need an IV fluid given with possibly potassium and magnessium. (The electrolytes that are in Pedialyte)
Dizzyness
If you feel kinda out of your body, not with it get to the hospital.
As you can tell, I too had N&V and diarrhea. But Compazine helped my Nausea & vomiting. But i ended up hospitalized because of dehydration! You DON'T want that. It seems as though you are drinking a a lot but if you are losing it from both ends it's hard to keep up. Get extra fluids when you go in. Every time. You can also go in between apps if you feel you need to get a bag of fluids.
Oh. And give yourself permission to wear diapers if you need to. I cried when i did the first time. Then i realized i could breath a bit easier and didn't have to do as much laundry. The Walgreens or CVS brands are just as good as Depends. Sorry if all of this is TMI.
Much love and feel better.
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Moonflwr, Not too much information, needed information. I read one of your posts about the big D before my chemo and it scared the sh*t out of me (lol, couldn't help but say it). But when it hit, I was better prepared and able to deal with it.
Soups and broth are helping to keep me hydrated.
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Wyo - my MO added another ingredient to the magic mouthwash - lidocane to numb the pain.
I had diarrhea for 15-18 days out of the 21 days between every treatment. I had the doc order an extra liter of fluid w/every infusion and went twice to get a liter in between infusions. See if you can tolerate BRAT diet for diarrhea (bananas, rice, applesauce & toast). I had Emend in my infusion & took steroids so didn't get nausea. Protein powder is a good idea. I put mine in Instant Breakfast. But otherwise I didn't eat much at all - applesauce, bananas, watermelon, cold boiled shrimp, chicken broth. Things like mashed potatoes worked for awhile, but as time went on everything tasted horrible.
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wyo - so sorry to hear this. I also had a lot of difficulty with mouth sores and taste buds (Big D was thankfully did not last too long for me - just a couple of days). Here's some stuff I could eat:
Peach Nectar and Pear Nectar (this tasted good and felt good going down my throat)
Scrambled egg
Frozen yogurt (vanilla, mango)
Cheerios (dry)
Oatmeal (with maple syrup and cinnamon)
Mango smoothie (not with OJ)
Applesauce (with maple syrup and cinnamon, particularly nice if homemade/warm)
Bananas
Mashed PotatoesI'm not a "sweet" person, in "normal" times, I drink coffee without sugar, no sweetened cereals, etc, but while on chemo "sweet" was one of the few tastes that remained for me. So, adding some maple syrup to oatmeal helped, etc.
The good news is that chemo eventually ends!!! I am 6.5 wks PFC. Just got my surgery results and proof that chemo worked. My 2.5cm mass shrunk to microscopic clusters of abnormal cells (largest 3mm)! Surgeon got awesome clean margins too. So I am cancer-free today. My taste buds are not 100% yet but nothing tastes slimy gross like it did while on chemo.
You can do this!!!
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oranje - yay!
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Good for you Oranje mama!
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oranje, yay. I love great news! So happy for you.
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Great news, Oranje!
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Yay!! oranje!! great news
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Awesome news oranje!
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Hey all - here is my update from today's treatment with a question about bloodwork that maybe some of you veterans might be able to address.
2nd treatment today and uneventful. However my liver bloodwork was all high AST 41 - high range is 31, ALT 79 high range is 31 and ALK Phos 166 - high range is 144. MO is gonna run a hepatitis test next week with my CBC and monitor them - all were normal prior to chemo so he thinks it is the chemo. Did anyone else have high liver enzymes while on chemo? I do not use anything with tylenol - it makes my stomach upset. In fact I have only taken one pain med since two days after mastectomy.
Also he will not be doing any tumor marker tests on me while on chemo and maybe not after as he says they will not be accurate for me as the test that he did when I still had two active tumors and no treatment indicated that I did not have any active cancer. He said he will only test or do any other test if I present with symptoms. That scares me.
He reduced my carboplatin by 15% as he thinks that is what is causing the neuropathy... I really though taxotere was the big culprit in neuropathy? Also - no one at the center understands why I am icing hands and feet and mouth... not the doc, not the PA and not the nurses. They think there is no value - but I am still doing it. Asked if I could use Latisse during chemo to try to keep my eyelashes and they recommended not to use it in case my tear ducts have issues from the taxotere which i understand but - it is a shame cause my PS was will to give me enough to last 4 months so I could test it out so he could recommend it to others if it worked for me. I got a 125 fill yesterday and no pain or discomfort - he is hoping that we can do the exchange by the end of october.
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Linda...when I asked my MO about Latisse he never heard of it. Free samples would be so tempting but I was also told no0
